The present invention relates generally to the production and collection of electrical wire harnesses, and more particularly to an apparatus for handling and storing electrical wire harnesses of varying lengths.
Many machines are known in the art for production of electrical wire harnesses. Such harnesses typically include a plurality of conductive wires to which one or more electrical connectors are terminated. These connectors may be terminated to opposing ends of the wires of each harness. In the past, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,188, issued Jul. 23, 1991, these harnesses have typically been pushed from their assembly path by ejector cylinders into a collection bin. This type of collection does not incorporated a controlled motion and rather relies upon gravity to move the wire harness once it is completed. This type of collection process leads to tangling of the wire harnesses.
In addition to this tendency for tangling, the assembly machine operator is required to shut down the machine for a significant amount of time when the collection bin is full to remove and replace the collection bin. Often, additional connectors are terminated to the harness wires between the connectors terminated at the ends of the harness wires. When this type of construction occurs, it is imperative that the harnesses and their connectors be protected when they are removed from their manufacturing machine. Also, a gravity-feed collection process will exacerbate the tangling of the wire harnesses when the harnesses are being produced in varying lengths by the same assembly machine, such as from about 6 inches to about 10 feet in length. In addition, in instances where the harness connectors contain circuit boards, there is a concern to keep the circuit boards free from electrostatic discharges during handling that could result in damage to the circuits on the circuit boards.
The present invention is directed to a wire harness storage and handling system that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages.